Supply Chain Innovation

In November 2014, January 2015, and March 2015, the FLA conducted unannounced independent external monitoring (IEM) visits and Independent External Verification (IEV) visits to assess working conditions at Syngenta‘s seed supplier farms in India. IEMs are conducted on farms where FLA has not conducted assessments in previous visits, and IEVs are conducted on farms where FLA has visited prior to the current IEV. The purpose of IEVs is to assess the progress made and changes implemented by the company with respect to the previous visits.Teams consisting of external service providers conducted the assessments.

A total of four IEMs were conducted: one in Karnataka covering pollination processes of sunflowers where a total of 30 farms were visited and 103 workers interviewed; one in Gujarat covering pollination and weeding processes of sunflowers where 16 farms were visited and 26 workers interviewed; two in Andhra Pradesh, one covering de-tasseling processes of corn and one covering pollination processes of hybrid rice. In the IEMs for Andhra Pradesh, a total of 30 farms were visited and 41 workers interviewed regarding the de-tasseling of corn, and a total of 25 farms were visited and 21 workers were interviewed regarding the pollination of hybrid rice. The IEVs took place in six villages in Karnataka covering the cross-pollination process of hot and sweet peppers and three villages in Maharashtra covering production of tomato seeds. In Karnataka, a total of 22 farms were visited and 22 growers and 39 workers were interviewed. In Maharashtra, a total of 20 farms were visited and 20 growers 36 workers were interviewed.

The below report summarizes the FLA’s findings for its 2014-2015 IEM and IEV assessments, the companies’ responses to the 2014-2015 findings, and company actions taken in 2014 in response to the 2013 round of assessments.